Mississippi State OT Charles Cross Grades Out in Top-20 of TDN Analyst's Big Board

Mississippi State offensive tackle Charles Cross is among the most talked-about players heading into the 2022 NFL Draft after the success he built in Mike Leach's Air Raid offense.

Cross has been mocked to a host of teams across the first round of the draft throughout this offseason, with those highest on him projecting that he could indeed end up being the No. 1 overall pick, which is owned by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

But mock drafts and overall player grades are two different things -- obviously there is a different draft order every year and every team has different needs that vary in importance, meaning that the best overall players available may not always come off the board in order of pure talent level.

That's why mock drafts and big boards with grades out of 100 are different from each other, and hardly any of them are the exact same due to difference in opinion between analysts. In one of the latest big boards released by Kyle Crabbs of the The Draft Network, Cross graded out with an 85.50/100, which put him at No. 18 overall, directly ahead of Georgia interior defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt and just behind Ohio State wide receiver Chris Olave.

That makes Cross the sixth-highest graded offensive lineman and the fourth-highest graded offensive tackle on Crabbs' big board.

It will be interesting to see where Cross lands in roughly one month when teams across the NFL are on the clock, but there is no doubt he'll bring an instant upgrade with a league full of clubs who need better protection for their quarterback heading into the 2022 season.